The Genius in Children by Ackerly Rick

Author:Ackerly, Rick [Ackerly, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Amazon
Published: 2010-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

17.

Being Literate

The No Child Left Behind Act has accomplished what many educators predicted: It has ensured that those who usually get left behind get left behind. It has done this by requiring some schools—not the best ones—to keep their eyes on the wrong ball, namely standards, rather than on the quality of teaching.

Standards do not ensure good teaching. In fact, standards that are bureaucratically imposed can go a long way to reduce the quality of teaching. One educational fad that has risen to prominence and then fallen again three times in the course of my career is the “teacher-proof curriculum.” What an insult to teachers! What kind of person would want to teach if nothing were required of them but to follow the directions of a committee of some market-driven publisher and to keep order among bored students?

Good teachers teach with the assumption that their students can think—not only can think, but must think better in order to be successful. Somehow our society has developed the notion that thinking is all well and good, but first you need to learn your three Rs. In truth, it is the other way around: To learn the three R’s, you have to first engage the brain.

In his latest book, Five Minds for the Future, Howard Gardner has summarized five sets of capabilities of a well -trained mind, a mind necessary for effective functioning in the world today:

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